The present invention relates to mouse traps and, in particular, to an unattended trap capable of disposing of large quantities of rodents such as mice and rats.
A problem plaguing the rural property owner each year with the coming of winter is that of rat and mouse infestation. This problem can become especially acute for the absentee owner, since over a protracted period of time, the mice rats can do extensive property damage. Conventional pest control techniques such as poison and resettable mouse/rat traps are ineffective during these times, since the pests are continually breeding and can re-populate the premises before the owner returns to reset or re-bait any traps/poison which may have been left about the premises. A need therefore exists for a control device which may be left unattended for long periods of time and which accommodates large quantities of pests before cleaning is necessary.
Although applicant is aware of many conventional poison bait stations, the operating principle of these devices is to provide a protected feeder station whereat a delayed acting poison is distributed to the rodents, which expire at other locations, most notably any nearby denning area. While such a control measure is very effective for a small rodent population, for larger concentrations, a containment/collection mechanism is preferred. Decomposition and odor problems are thus confined to an owner selected location.
Baited traps, in contrast, provide advantages in the later regard, since the captured rodents are readily locatable. With most traps, however, required periodic resetting or re-baiting is not practical, where the owner may be gone for several weeks or months.